Mankind Pharma jumps 32% on stock market debut due to strong demand

Posted on by

Shares of Mankind Pharma jumped more than 32 percent during its stock market debut Tuesday, thanks to follow-on strong demand from institutional investors.

Shares of the drugmaker — best known for its Manforce condom brand and Prega News pregnancy test range — closed at 1,430 rupees, up 350 rupees, or 32.4 per cent over its issue price of 1,080 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, with shares valued at Rs. It has a circulation of Rs 4,480 crore. It was the best day for a stock listing in nearly six months.

In conclusion, Mankind is valued at over Rs 57,000 crore, making it the fifth largest pharma company in the country by market capitalization, behind Cipla and ahead of Torrent Pharma. The company is the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in the country by sales.

The stellar performance on listing day comes even as retail investors gave its Rs 4,326 crore Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the largest in over a year – a miss. The retail portion of the IPO was 92 percent subscribed. Institutional investors were excited at the prospects for humanity, with a stake allotted to them seeing 50x underwriting.

On Tuesday, Macquarie commenced coverage of the company with a rating of “outperform” and a price target of ₹1,400 based on 25 times its estimated earnings per share (EPS) of ₹56 in fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26).

“Mankind Pharma appears well positioned to double its bottom line by fiscal ’26,” the brokerage said in a note. “We believe continued sales outperformance in the India market, focus on chronic therapies and improving sales force productivity are drivers for growth.”

The company has a strong local presence, with approximately 98 percent of revenue coming from the local pharmaceutical market. Within its domestic business, about 90 percent of revenue comes from prescription drugs and the remainder from its consumer health business.

It has one of the largest networks of medical representatives in India and more than 80 percent of doctors prescribe its products. “We believe the growth potential in the chronic segment will likely lead to a significant margin expansion,” Macquarie said in his note.

However, after moving up 32 percent on the first day, Mankind stock now trades at a premium to most of its peers.

The company’s initial public offering was a bid for sale by its promoters, the global private equity firm Cairnhill, Beige and a few other investors.